Maybe somebody can clear this up for me. Is a slow board slow because it has good fin hold and is there fore slow to turn? Or is a slow board slow because it does not have much in the way of fins and therefore dose not MAKE you travel as fast when on edge as a board with huge fins? The terms slow and fast are kind of ambiguous and i want to know what people mean when they say slow or fast.

you're on the wrong track. ride an 06 murray (a lot of rocker) and then ride a shane or randy harris board(a lot less rocker). the rocker is what makes a board slow or fast a lot more so than fins. less rocker = less drag = faster. more rocker = more drag = slower. one isn't always better than the other, it's personal preference.

3 stage boards are typically slower than continuous boards as well... BUT this might be linked more to the whole rocker-amount as etiology. EXAMPLE: If the 3-stage boards out there were NOT to have a flat spot but a continuous arc then they would have an unbelievable amount of rocker!

and just in case... rocker is the measure of bend and is measured by the distance between the ground and the tip/tail when the board is set on the ground

the board speed, in short, is how fast the board will move towards the wake when you put it on edge. Some boards, with the same amount of edge pressure, will glide faster across the surface than others. This has to do not only with amount of rocker, but rocker degree as well. The 06 07 murray, with over 3 inches of rocker was very slow, but so is a Ronix Mana, which has a rocker degree of over 10, If i remember correctly. (degree is what angle the board's profile rises from a flat surface at the tip)

That's why a 3 stage with a late kick and 2.5 inches of rocker will be slower than a continuous with the same amount of rocker.

also the new hyperlite and byerly shapes have a combination of 3 stage and continuous. the murray has a pocket cut out in the tip and tail to give it a 3 stage pop when flat and a continous fast edge. the byerly monarch has a blended rocker line that has a continuous rocker on the edge but rolls into a 3 stage in the center. the byerly is the fastest normal(not roam) board i have ridden yet

I went from an 05 Parks, that was unbelievably responsive AND fast to the wake, to the 06 Premier, which was less responsive and had a steady, but slower approach to the wake. My new board, the Covin is very responsive, and FLIES to the wake. I look at Fast as reaction and speed towards the wake.

John, the longer the board the faster as well but for different reasons and conditions. If you are riding slow, a larger board will be faster since it will give more surface area = more float. If you are sinking a board because you are too heavy for it, you can speed up to compensate.

I ride a substance (not slow, but not fast either) do you think I could cut slits into the tip and speed it? I also noticed older hyperlites have divots in the bottom, could I do something like that to speed my board up? I want it be a fast board and release off the wake like vaseline.